The Importance of Soya Based Foods

Compared to carbohydrates and fats, proteins are the most expensive ingredients used in processed foods. It is perhaps for this reason that protein malnutrition is common in sub-economic groups and also the reason that protein supplementation forms the cornerstone of any successful feeding scheme.

At present, soy proteins outrank many other food proteins in various world-wide nutrition programs due to the relatively low cost and the excellent protein nutritional quality. Soy protein provides all the essential amino acids (building blocks of protein) needed to fulfil human nutritional requirements for growth, maintenance, or physical stress. This amino-acid pattern is among the most complete of all vegetable protein sources and resembles, with the exception of the sulphur-containing amino acids (e.g. methionine), the pattern derived from high-quality animal protein sources.

Many applications for soy protein involve the combination with cereal grains.


These grains, such as maize, are low in the amino acid lysine but are rich in the sulphur-containing amino acids. This fits nicely with soy protein which is high in lysine but low in the sulphur-containing amino acids. The resulting protein quality if properly blended will be superior to either vegetable protein. This is of particular interest in the South African situation where maize forms the staple diet.

Education is the most important ingredient for true growth and maturity of young people in the developing world. Experience has taught us that protein in the diet is of great importance in relation to effective brain development, improved learning and is a simple and cost effective way to help children. For an effective school feeding program, it makes sense to combine high protein soya meals with maize.

In terms of Power Foods product quality, taste plays an extremely important role and so, irrespective of the nutritional value, the taste has to be acceptable. One cannot get nutrition into children if the food is unpalatable.

This is a key ingredient to the success and uptake of Power Foods into many successful feeding programmes. The addition of pasta, rice or dehydrated vegetables helps to add variation. Power Foods has a range of different flavours to prevent taste fatigue.

Power Foods knows that vitamin and mineral addition is also a critical component of any successful feeding scheme. For this reason, heat stable vitamins and minerals such as calcium, zinc and iron are also be added to the soya meals, but at levels that do not interfere with product flavour.Power Foods understands that the success of any feeding in mass such as this must be combined with “delivery”.

Power Foods takes this seriously and this can be seen in our delivery of fortified foods to ECD’s children by making the commitment to deliver foods to the end user, our future leaders.

Taking food to the future leaders of our country guarantees that nutrition is reaching those most in need.Power Foods has some unique ideas in terms of using food as an incentive to keep children in school. Children are incentivised with a take home pack by having a +90% attendance rate.

Power Foods is only one of a few food manufacturers in South Africa that is FSSC 22000, SANS 10330:2007, HACCP & PAS 220 2008 & Halaal Certified and our range of foods for educational feeding has been approved by the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) soya manufacturers. We have the ability to supply nationally with a total turnkey solution including logistics.